Following an inspection in July and August this year, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published a report into our secure inpatient services showing improvement since the last inspection in 2021. The regulator has now rated the service as ‘requires improvement’.
The CQC carried out an unannounced focused inspection to see whether improvements had been made since their last inspection of the service in June 2021. On that inspection the overall rating for the service was inadequate.
The CQC highlighted some areas of good practice, saying:
- Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment of patients
- Culture within the service had improved, staff felt more supported by managers and mechanisms had been put in place to allow staff to escalate concerns
- Staff actively involved patients and families and carers in decisions about their care
- Staff supported patients well to live healthier lives
However, the under criteria for the ‘safe’ category of the report the service rating remains ‘inadequate’.
In response to the Care Quality Commission’s inspection report, Naomi Lonergan, Care Group Director of the Secure Inpatient Services at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust said:
“We have been working hard to improve the service since the previous Care Quality Commission inspection in June 2021 and we are encouraged by the improvement in the rating.
“We have recruited 70 health care assistants since the last inspection and we are working with local universities to support the recruitment of registered nurses. This is in addition to developing an international recruitment strategy which is already making a difference.
“We have set up a health care assistant council and one for nurses to improve how colleagues contribute to the quality of care within our trust.
“We are also focused on creating a community on our wards, through the work we do with our recovery and outcomes team who put on events and activities for people in our care that help their recovery.
“We recognise that there is more to be done. This includes an unrelenting focus on patient safety with our absolute priority being on safe staffing and safeguarding our patients. We continue to prioritise the experience of our patients, their carers and colleagues to make the improvements we need to and we are confident the service is making these changes and will continue to do so.”